Subliminal
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 555
Hey guys,
So, I've put 20 hrs on my boat now. It's an 08 Monterey 180FS with the 4.3L Volvo setup.
I figure I've put some time on it and I'd like to write out my initial thoughts on things...read it if you want...and don't if you don't.
At any rate, here's my thoughts:
The boat:
So far it's been pretty good, but I have had some issues. Learning to run with the carb (vs. every other vehicle I've ever had which was fuel injected) took me a few trips. Pump the throttle a few times before starting it, and that helped quite a bit. Using premium fuel rather than 87 also seemed to help, as she doesn't diesel anymore, and she starts a lot quicker. I still have kind of a strange hesitation issue when I start out from a stop or a slow crawl. Seems to start to rev, drop off and then will rev until I hit redline, should I keep the throttle down. This is pretty annoying, but it's under warranty, so I guess that's ok.
So far I think I've had to tighten EVERY bolt inside the boat. Every through bolt that holds the padding on the side, or the windshield or the seats in was loose. A few even fell out, which was nice as it alerted me that I needed to tighten them.
I like the no carpet deal...don't think I'd want carpet, even if it is removable.
Keeping a boat with a very white interior clean is a FULL time job:
Stupid thing gets dirty just looking at it. But, when she's clean she looks NICE!
I wasn't sure about the seating layout initially, as I like the bench in the back, rather than the 'jumpseats' I had beside the doghouse. BUT, it works well and gives plenty of extra floorspace.
I have yet to go out for 6 hrs and use more than 1/2 tank of gas. I mean, its a given that we end up swimming more than motoring, but the engine seems to sip the fuel.
The outdrive hasn't given me too much problems. The speedo port gets clogged up on a semi regular basis, which is kind of annoying. One thing worth note is that I was told the Volvo drive shouldn't clunk into gear, as it's a cone/clutch system...but mine clunks into gear. Maybe it's out of adjustment, or maybe I didn't understand what the dealer was talking about when I bought the boat.
The stereo on the boat is just so/so. I mean it's got some nice options, and it sounds nice, but on the third trip out I hit a big wake and the speakers started popping. DOH! Oh well, I'm a big fan of replacement speakers anyhow.
The boat handles great...Max speed is right around 50...jumps on plane pretty easy, and is easy to handle around the dock and loading on the trailer is a breeze.
Speaking of the trailer. I got a 2010 Loadrite with brakes. It's a galvanized trailer with bunks and loading unloading is easy...no power necessary. It trailers great behind both our small SUV and my diesel truck. One weird thing is the boat comes awfully close to rubbing against the end of the tongue...the back end, that is. Which is weird and kind of annoying. Not sure why it was setup that way.
So, that's about it for now. I've been having a great time. If I had it to do over again, I might not have chosen the same boat. Instead of buying brand new, I might have gone with something older, and perhaps even an outboard...but I haven't had to winterize yet, so we'll see how hard that ends up being.
So, I've put 20 hrs on my boat now. It's an 08 Monterey 180FS with the 4.3L Volvo setup.
I figure I've put some time on it and I'd like to write out my initial thoughts on things...read it if you want...and don't if you don't.
At any rate, here's my thoughts:
The boat:
So far it's been pretty good, but I have had some issues. Learning to run with the carb (vs. every other vehicle I've ever had which was fuel injected) took me a few trips. Pump the throttle a few times before starting it, and that helped quite a bit. Using premium fuel rather than 87 also seemed to help, as she doesn't diesel anymore, and she starts a lot quicker. I still have kind of a strange hesitation issue when I start out from a stop or a slow crawl. Seems to start to rev, drop off and then will rev until I hit redline, should I keep the throttle down. This is pretty annoying, but it's under warranty, so I guess that's ok.
So far I think I've had to tighten EVERY bolt inside the boat. Every through bolt that holds the padding on the side, or the windshield or the seats in was loose. A few even fell out, which was nice as it alerted me that I needed to tighten them.
I like the no carpet deal...don't think I'd want carpet, even if it is removable.
Keeping a boat with a very white interior clean is a FULL time job:
Stupid thing gets dirty just looking at it.
But, when she's clean she looks NICE!I wasn't sure about the seating layout initially, as I like the bench in the back, rather than the 'jumpseats' I had beside the doghouse. BUT, it works well and gives plenty of extra floorspace.
I have yet to go out for 6 hrs and use more than 1/2 tank of gas. I mean, its a given that we end up swimming more than motoring, but the engine seems to sip the fuel.
The outdrive hasn't given me too much problems. The speedo port gets clogged up on a semi regular basis, which is kind of annoying. One thing worth note is that I was told the Volvo drive shouldn't clunk into gear, as it's a cone/clutch system...but mine clunks into gear. Maybe it's out of adjustment, or maybe I didn't understand what the dealer was talking about when I bought the boat.
The stereo on the boat is just so/so. I mean it's got some nice options, and it sounds nice, but on the third trip out I hit a big wake and the speakers started popping. DOH! Oh well, I'm a big fan of replacement speakers anyhow.
The boat handles great...Max speed is right around 50...jumps on plane pretty easy, and is easy to handle around the dock and loading on the trailer is a breeze.
Speaking of the trailer. I got a 2010 Loadrite with brakes. It's a galvanized trailer with bunks and loading unloading is easy...no power necessary. It trailers great behind both our small SUV and my diesel truck. One weird thing is the boat comes awfully close to rubbing against the end of the tongue...the back end, that is. Which is weird and kind of annoying. Not sure why it was setup that way.
So, that's about it for now. I've been having a great time. If I had it to do over again, I might not have chosen the same boat. Instead of buying brand new, I might have gone with something older, and perhaps even an outboard...but I haven't had to winterize yet, so we'll see how hard that ends up being.
